He Remembers Her
by Cheeky Slytherin Lass
Summary: "He doesn't want to remember her like this. /He remembers her alive.":: In which Uriah remembers Marlene as everything but dead.::For Anna.


A/N: For Anna. Enjoy, darling.

He stares at her body. She is too still, too stiff, too not Marlene.

_He remembers her small. Cheeky grin with a pink tongue poking between her lips. "Bet you can't catch me!" she calls._

_She's gone in a flash, running too fast on slippery, uneven ground. She doesn't seem to care, doesn't seem to notice. And he follows behind, refusing to be beaten by a girl._

_She falls, and he hears a crash. Even as blood pours from her knee, she doesn't cry. Uriah thinks that maybe this girl is something special._

And suddenly Uriah doesn't care that he's Dauntless,that he's been taught to ignore his emotions, that tears are weaknesses. He falls to his knees, fingers pressing against her wrist, searching for signs of a pulse, salt stinging his eyes.

_He remembers her laughing. The classroom is silent, but she doesn't care. She's doubled over, laughing so hard that everyone stares like she's lost her mind._

_Maybe the Dauntless-born are a little crazy, Uriah thinks to himself._

_He doesn't know why Marlene is laughing, but as the teacher tries to restore order in the classroom, he finds herself laughing along with her until his ribs ache._

God, she is too cold.

_He remembers her stumbling. She's jumped on the train a hundred times before, but all it takes is a slip of the foot, and she's holding on for dear life, legs working in a panic to keep up._

_Some laugh and make jokes. Most just watch with wide eyes and open mouths._

_Uriah moves. He grabs her hand, pulling her to safety._

_She grins at him, leaning against the wall. "I totally had that," she says, poking her tongue out at him. But he can hear the gratitude hidden beneath her words._

"Live, Marlene," he whispers.

_He remembers her confident. She takes the knife, slicing into her palm. Without even a second's hesitation, she moves her hand over the coals, letting her blood seal her fate._

_Her eyes find his, and he can read the teasing challenge within. Catch me if you can, Uriah._

"Live."

_He remembers her determined. Gun in hand, a smile on her lips, she turns to look at him. "Bet I can hit the target first."_

_Uriah rolls his eyes. "You're on!"_

_And her brows crease as she takes aim, firing and missing. He tries, his bullet sinking into the target._

_"I win," he says._

_Marlene narrows her eyes, raising her gun again. "Best two out of three_?"

But she doesn't move, doesn't breathe.

_He remembers her dirty, her pretty face smeared with dirt and paint. A victorious smile plays at her lips as she looks over at Christina who's still clutching the rival team's flag._

_"Feels nice, doesn't it?" she chuckles. "Beating Eric like that."_

_Uriah nods, but he isn't really listening. He's watching her lips, wondering what they feel like._

She is gone.

_He remembers her breathless, cheeks pink and hair windswept from the ride down the Hancock building. She pushes a hand through her hair, bright eyes gazing up at him. "Let's do it again," she laughs._

_His stomach feels sick at the thought, but the way she looks at him eases away the tension. To hell with his nerves. "Of course," he says, wrapping an arm around her shoulders._

_And he finds himself thinking that maybe he'd do anything for her._

Dead.

_He remembers her struggling, scared to death of whatever she sees in her fear landscape._

_He's on the edge of his seat, flinching every time she screams. It's all in her head. It can't hurt her. But that doesn't stop him from wanting to protect her._

Uriah closes his eyes, pressing his palms to his face.

_He remembers her blank, eyes staring straight ahead, weapon in hand. He can feel what's coming. This is wrong, so very wrong, but there's nothing he can do to stop it._

_He stays close to her, playing along so that no one becomes suspicious. He doesn't want to see her become a killer, but he's too afraid to leave her side._

_And when she wakes up after the attack, Uriah holds her bloodstained hand, whispering that it will be okay._

He doesn't want to remember her like this.

_He remembers her as his. She holds him close, pressing small kiss after small kiss against his lips._

_Uriah almost laughs. It's so typical of Marlene. The world is going to hell, but there she is in his arms, giddy and smiling, drunk on happiness and infatuation._

_He thinks that maybe he loves her for it. Everything they've known is falling apart, but she is unchanged. She is still the same happy, carefree girl, and she's the only light he's seen in too long_.

He wants to remember his Marlene.

_He remembers her alive_.


End file.
